The Dating Game
by Bluekit5
Summary: Byakuya knew he wasn't going to always be there to provide for Rukia, so he decided she needed to learn how to live and function on her own. After being kicked out by her brother, Rukia bumps into Ichigo, an old classmate. The two have history between them and Rukia wants nothing to do with him. But a desperate Ichigo manages to convince Rukia to agree to a strange deal.
1. Damn Lampposts

**A/N: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. **

* * *

Rukia stared at her brother, her eyes bulging. Her fingers clenched into fists as she tried to reign in her temper.

"But-t, Byakuya! You can't just kick me out!" she protested.

"Rukia, this will be beneficiary for you. You can't rely on me your entire life; you need to be able to go out on your own and be able to live on _your own_." Byakuya looked up at Rukia from his papers and emphasized his two last words. He put his pen down and folded his hands on top of his desk.

"Byakuya, I can't go out on my own with absolutely nothing!" Rukia was still in shock from what her brother had told her and simply refused to believe what he was saying. Byakuya was her only family member left; he couldn't kick her out…could he? Would he?

"Rukia, I'm not completely abandoning you. I'm giving you a certain amount of money to get you started. You'll be fine. This is only to help you learn how to live on your own. I won't always be here to provide for you." He paused for a moment, as if trying to find the right words, before continuing. "If anything were to happen to me, Rukia, you would be left on your own."

Rukia stood there with her mouth open unable to speak. What did he mean by "if anything were to happen to me"?

Byakuya observed her expression before saying, "I'm serious about this."

Once Rukia regained her ability to function somewhat, she bowed her head and left the room in a flash. She went into her room and stuffed as many clothes as she could into one of her backpacks. When she was at her dresser, she noticed a wad of money neatly bound by a rubber band was waiting for her.

He was serious about this, she thought with a scowl. She still found it hard to believe that Byakuya, of all people, was throwing her out to get "experience" in the real world.

Rukia stuffed the money in her backpack and pulled the straps over her shoulders. She wanted to say she understood that Byakuya was doing this for her good, but she couldn't. After making sure the bag was secure, she slowly made her way back to Byakuya's office.

"Well I'll leave now then if you want me out so badly," she commented hoping that he might have changed his mind in those few minutes she had taken to pack.

"You didn't have to leave until tomorrow, but if you really want to leave now, I suppose I won't stop you." He didn't even look up from the forums he was filling out while talking to her.

Rukia refrained from letting out a sigh and left without another word.

I still don't understand why he would tell me things on such a short notice. If he wanted me to "experience" the real world, wouldn't he have given me time to at least find a place to stay? Rukia mused over her thoughts as she let herself out of their- Byakuya's- house.

She supposed she could always swing by Renji's house and ask him if she could stay for a few days until she got on her feet. But as she thought the idea over, she decided against it. There was no need to drag any of her friends into the little mess she somehow had gotten herself into; she didn't want to reply on her friends' hospitality anyways.

She continued walking down the street they-he- lived on until she reached the outskirts of the city.

Byakuya had forbidden her from coming to the city by herself because he thought it was too dangerous for a lady like herself to be roaming around it alone.

She hesitated at the edge of the street, deciding whether or not to travel into the city alone.

It wasn't like it was a big city it was fairly small. After only pausing for a minute, she crossed the street and into the city. She would be fine, anyways. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

"Pfft," she said aloud to herself as she walked along the darkening streets, her head bent to the ground. "I don't need to go out and experience the real world. I can take care of myself without getting into trouble."

And, at that exact moment, she ran into a lamppost head-on. The impact had knocked her down flat on her butt. She groaned and her hand went up to poke at the spot on her head that had made contact with the pole.

She winced when she touched it. It really hurt.

"Oww," she said and rubbed her head. "That freaking hurt. Stupid lamppost."

No one around her stopped to see if she was okay. They all went on with their business and acted like they didn't see anything.

Rukia stood up quickly before staggering and almost falling down again. She must have hit that pole harder than she originally thought.

She continued on her way with a throbbing head. Her pace became slower as her the pain in her head increased.

Yawning, she stopped by an entrance to an alleyway. The sky was dark and the lampposts lining the streets dimly lit the streets.

Her head hurt like hell and she was extremely sleepy. Her eyelids were getting heavier with every passing second.

She sat down on the ground in the entrance of the alley, leaning her head on the wall behind her. "I should sleep this off."

Perhaps it would be okay if I just slept for a little bit. Her thoughts were getting muggy and her eyelids heavy. If she had realized at that point she probably had a concussion, it was far too late to try and keep herself awake. HEr thoughts were disorgainzed.

All she could think of before her concussion-induced sleep took over was _that damn lamppost. _

* * *

Ichigo strolled along the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. His pace was nice and slow. He wanted to enjoy a nice walk before calling it a night. Besides, he needed fresh air to clear his mind after the phone call he just had with his father.

The sky had darkened significantly since the beginning of his walk. He turned a corner, ready to head home, when he saw a figure passed out on the ground. The person was sprawled out in an alley, their head resting on their arms.

Ichigo debated whether to walk away like he never saw anything or to do something. As much as he wanted to walk away, he knew he couldn't leave the poor sap.

As he got closer, he realized the poor sap was a female. A surprisingly familiar female.

"Uh, Rukia?" He gently poked her arm with his foot.

She was unresponsive. He bent down to inspect her when he saw a bump on the front of her head.

"Well, shit," he muttered to himself.

He hesitated before picking her up. Although part of him said to just leave her, especially after what happened between them, the good side of him knew he couldn't leave her alone and defenseless.

He let out a long sigh before he went on his way. "I'm going to regret this."

**A/N: Long time no see, guys. I know I've been gone for a bit, but I'm back. I'm going to do my very best to update this regularly. I owe it to you guys, anyways. **

**Any feedback on my new story would be nice. Constructed criticism is welcome as long as you're not mean about it. It's been a while since I've written anything, so I'm a bit rusty. **

**I love you, my darlings. (I've missed calling you all my darlings). **

**-Bluekit5**


	2. Strawberries and Short Stacks

When Rukia woke up, she thought she was in her bed. She curled up on the seemly familiar sheets and pulled the blanket over her face. Her eyes were half-closed, filled with sleep.

Her head was killing her; it felt like someone had hit her with a frying pan smack dab in the middle of her head. She groaned and her hand went up to inspect her head. She found what felt to be like quite a large bump.

Groaning again, she pushed the sheets off her and sat up in bed. She rubbed her eyes with one hand and used the other to cover her mouth as she yawned. Her eyes scanned the room.

It was then when she realized she was not in her own bed. Instead, she sat in the middle of kind-sized bed with velvet red sheets. Her bed sheets were purple.

Resisting the urge to scream, she scrambled out of the bed. Carefully inspecting the room, she tried to figure out where the hell she was.

"Oh shit, shit, shit," she muttered while trying to remain calm.

The bedroom was bare expect for the bed with a nightstand next to it and a bookcase directly across from the bed. The walls were painted a dark red and there were two doors, one probably leading to a bathroom.

All she could think of at the moment was this was definitely not her room.

When it came back to her that Byakuya had sort of kicked her out, she remembered that she had passed out in the alley.

Her eyes widened. She could be anywhere now.

"God damn," she whispered to herself as she ran for one of the doors. "How could I let myself fall asleep? Someone kidnapped me and who knows where I am now?"

She quickly opened the door. It led to a hallway. Checking if the coast was clear, she ran down the hallway. The floors were dark wood and the walls were painted a dark red like the bedroom. A few pictures hung on the wall scattered around randomly. There were two other doors along it, but she ignored them. She paused to look at a picture to see if she recognized any of the people contained in them were familiar.

Her eyes fell on a picture of a boy who looked to be in his preteens. He had wild orange hair and warm brown eyes. His arms were wrapped around a baby girl with dark hair. They were both grinning ear to ear.

Something stirred in her mind as she stared at the picture. Something seemed familiar, but the memory hung back in the shadows, not allowing her to fully remember what was familiar about the pair. She felt it was something that her mind purposefully chose not to remember.

She heard a bang come from farther down the short hallway and jumped a little. Resuming her original intentions before she got distracted again, she crept down to the end of the hallway and found a kitchen. Peering around the corner, she saw a tall man with a mop of orange hair, the same one she saw in the picture.

His back was to her as he fiddled around with stove.

"Damn thing," he said to himself.

Rukia debated whether to fight him or run for it. If she made a run for it, he might hear her and stop her; on the other hand, if she did fight him, he might hurt her. When she saw a frying pan within her reach, her decision was made.

She made a dash for the frying pan as the man turned around. Her fingers grasped the handle of it and she held it above her head.

"Don't move!" she shouted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." The man put his hands up in defense. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm going to take you out! You kidnapped me and you're going down!" Rukia charged at him without hesitation and attempted to hit him over the head with the frying pan.

The man caught her wrists before she could hit him and held them in place. "I didn't kidnap you!"

"Yes, you did! I never asked you to take me here; you brought me here while I was passed out. That's called kidnapping someone!" Rukia tried to pull her wrists free, but the man only tightened his grip.

He scowled down at her. "I brought you here before an actual creep did kidnap you!"

"Sure you did," Rukia said as she vainly tried to rid his fingers off her wrists. She stomped on his foot causing him to let go.

"Oi! That hurt." The man glared at her.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but you're going to let me go or else." Rukia held the frying pan higher and prepared to swing it.

The man let out an exasperated sigh. "You seriously don't know who I am?" He pointed to his orange hair. "I thought this would be obvious…I mean, I knew we had an ongoing 'spat,' but I didn't think you'd completely forget about me."

Rukia squinted at the man. She racked her brain for anything about this man that would ring a bell. She finally remembered who he was and suppressed all the memories she had of him. She hadn't thought of him in a very long time.

"You were that annoying guy in my class in high school!" She frowned. Pretending not to have remembered him, she asked, "What was your name? It had somethig to do with strawberries. Oh, Ichigo!"

Ichigo slapped his forehead and sighed. "Took you long enough."

"Well maybe I just wanted to forget you and everything that had to do with you."

"Wow, how insulting." Ichigo faked a pained expression and held a hand to his heart.

"Shut up. You still haven't explained why I'm here." Rukia put her hands on her hips. "I remember that we fought all the time in school, so why would you help me? You pretty much convinced me you hated me."

"I found you passed out in the middle of the sidewalk and I wasn't going to leave you there, okay?" He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "But whatever."

Rukia paused for a moment, contemplating what to say. "Thanks, I guess. It would have been better to have been found by you than that one guy that used to hang around you in school. Keigo was his name?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Keigo may be a perv, but he wouldn't snatch a random chick off the streets."

"Whatever, now where'd you put my bag so I can leave?"

"If you don't mind, can I ask you a question?"

"What do you want, Strawberry?"

"Hey, don't call me that! That nickname is long dead." Ichigo frowned at her and put a hand in his pocket. "Can you explain why I found you passed out on the sidewalk? Don't you live with your brother or something?"

"You asked me more than one question." Rukia crossed her arms over her chest, the frying pan still in her hands. "I don't have to tell you anything."

Ichigo let out a groan. "I could have left you in the middle of the sidewalk, all defenseless! The least you could do is explain."

"I suppose I do owe you an explanation. Let's just say that my brother wanted me to learn how to live on my own and may or may have not kicked me out. And then I ran into a lamppost." Rukia set the frying pan down.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. But I'll be fine."

It was then when Ichigo began to laugh. He held his sides as he continued to let out bellowing laughter.

"It's not funny!" Rukia clenched her fists. "Stop laughing at me!"

Ichigo wiped his eyes. "Oh, that's great. Byakuya kicking his sister out. That's gold."

"It's not funny!" Rukia pouted like a small child.

"It's hilarious. Byakuya kicking out his extremely sheltered sister to face the big bad world."

"I was not sheltered."

Ichigo rolled her eyes at her. "Of course you were. It's so obvious you were."

"How is it obvious, exactly?"

Shrugging, Ichigo said, "You always got what you wanted without having to lift a finger. You never understood any of the sexual jokes Keigo made toward you because you were too innocent. Besides, you always seemed shocked whenever someone in class stepped out of line or got in trouble on purpose."

"So? That doesn't mean I was sheltered."

Ichigo shook his head and chuckled. "Byakuya did a good job, too. You didn't even realize you were sheltered."

Rukia huffed. "For the last time, I was not sheltered."

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you say, Short Stack."

Rukia's eye twitched. "What did you just call me?"

"You were bringing back my old nickname, so I thought it was appropriate to bring back yours."

"Shut up! That wasn't funny! I hate being called that ever since you got everyone to call me it!"

"You got everyone to call me Strawberry."

Rukia pursed her lips. "True."

"You know, I never understood-" Ichigo was cut off mid-sentence by the ring of his cell phone. He held up a finger in Rukia's direction, motioning her to stay silent. "Hello?"

Rukia observed Ichigo's face as he frowned when the caller made their identity known.

Ichigo covered the speaker with one hand. "Stay here," he said before stalking off into the living room.

He put the phone back to his ear when he was certain Rukia was out of ear shot. "What do you want this time, dad?"

_"__Can't a father call his son just to talk to him?" _Isshin said.

"I know what you're calling about. Why can't you take my word for it?"

_"__Son, it's nothing to be ashamed of! You can tell your daddy about these kinds of things! I promise I won't judge you!" _

"For crying out loud, my answer is the same thing as I tell you every time you bring up this topic. Leave me alone old man." Ichigo hung up on his father. He turned around to see Rukia scurrying back in the kitchen. So she had been eavesdropping, eh?

"Didn't anyone teach you it's impolite to listen in on other people's conversations?" Ichigo shoved his phone in his back pocket and walked into the kitchen.

Rukia had her back to him and froze. She blushed when she realized he had caught her eavesdropping.

"I-I didn't mean to," Rukia stuttered before turning around and crossing her arms. She really hadn't. She was become curious when she heard Ichigo's voice growing louder.

"Well you did and that was rude of you."

Rukia jutted out her chin, something Ichigo knew she did a lot from high school, and scoffed. Her body language became more ridge and challenging. "It's not like you should be telling people what's polite and impolite. Or should I mention that cafeteria story?"

Ichigo's eyes widened and he shook his head vigruosly. "No, no we do not need to bring up that story ever again!"

Rukia smirked. "I thought so." She looked at him curiously for a minute. "Was that your father?"

"Is it your business?" Ichigo looked away. "But yeah, it was. He was just spewing out shit as he always does."

Rukia nodded. She knew Isshin and also knew that most of things that came out of his mouth made no sense.

Rukia looked at Ichigo when she saw his stressed expression. "Did he say something stupid as he always does?"

Ichigo raised his eyebrow. "'As he always does."" He repeated her words and put quotation marks around them in the air with his fingers.

"I used to babysit your sisters. I know how your father is."

Ichigo scoffed. "You didn't have to live with him."

A silence fell upon them. It was an awkward silence. Rukia stared at her feet unsure of what to do or say.

She wanted to leave and find somewhere to stay for the night, but she got she wrapped up in their conversation.

They haven't spoken since the last day of high school which happened to be the day of their biggest fight ever. Rukia tried to forget everything about him and stored the memories of him away in her mind.

Rukia looked up to see Ichigo had also been looking at the ground. He lifted his gaze to stare at her.

He shrugged after a moment. "I might as well tell you since you'll judge me anyways." He rubbed the back of his neck and his face was tinted pink. "Well… uh, my dad may or may not think I'm gay."

It was Rukia's turn to laugh.

"Oh god, that's great! I mean, I can see why with how tight you wear your pants!" Rukia clutched her sides as she laughed. Tears streamed down her face from laughing so hard and she wiped them away.

"That's not the reason he thinks I'm gay." Ichgio's face had turned a bright pink. He scowled and kicked at the ground. "Keigo got wasted one night when my family was visiting and kissed me by accident. Ever since that night, my family has convinced themselves that I'm gay even when I tell them otherwise."

Rukia laughed even harder. "That's amazing!" She said through gasps of air.

"No, it's not! Stop laughing! I can't convince them that I'm not gay no matter what!"

"Get a girlfriend or something then. It can't be that hard," Rukia added after she calmed down, "Well, it might difficult for you nowadays." She began to laugh again, but not as wildly as she had before.

_A girlfriend? _An idea struck Ichigo as Rukia continued to laugh. He looked her up and down. Why hadn't he thought of this before?

Rukia stopped laughing when she noticed Ichigo eyeing her. "What are you looking at?"

"Byakuya kicked you out, right?" Ichigo inched forward toward her.

"Right…?" Rukia narrowed her eyes and take a step back.

"And you need a job, right?"

"I suppose so…" Rukia raised an eyebrow, wondering where he was going with this.

"And you need a place to stay?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm offering you a deal."

"A deal…?" Rukia gave him a confused look. "A deal for what exactly?"

"You pretend to be my girlfriend in front of my family and I'll pay you and let you stay here for the time being." Ichigo grinned. He thought it was a good plan to convince his family that he wasn't gay; besides, he had no time for an actual girlfriend. Girls were too much work in his opinion and he had more important things to be doing.

"What the hell?" Rukia chocked out. "We hate each other! We never got along in high school! How do you think we'd be able to pull off a couple vibe in front of your family?" Rukia shuddered at the word _couple. _

"You took a theatre class in high school, didn't you?" When he received a nod confirming this was true, he continued. "Just pretend you're playing a character in a play.. A character that happens to be madly in love with me."

"And why would I help you?"

"We just had a decent conversation so that shows we've both changed a little bit since high school and can pull this off. Can't we put our past behind us? Besides, you'd be helping me out and I'd be helping you out." He rocked back and forth on his feet for a second. "I could have left you on that sidewalk..."

Rukia sighed as she considered what he was offering. He offered her a place to stay and a paycheck to act like his girlfriend around his family. It sounded like a perfect deal despite that fact she would have to pretend to be _his _girlfriend.

"How long would I have to pretend to be your girlfriend?"

Ichigo scratched his head. "Ehh, as long as it takes to convince them I'm not gay and maybe that you're a serious girlfriend."

Rukia leaned on the wall and tapped her chin with a finger. Perhaps by the time she was done pretending to be his girlfriend, she would have racked up enough funds to pay for an apartment by herself. That'd certainly show Byakuya she could provide for herself. While this may not be a legit job, it still provided a source of money for her. At least, enough for her to get on her feet and look for a real job.

"Do you need time to think your answer over?" Ichigo cocked his head to the side. "Though, I suppose you don't really have time."

Rukia bit her lip. "My answer is…"

* * *

Byakuya closed the door to his office with a quiet click. He made his way upstairs, passing Rukia's room.

He paused to peek in it. The room was neat and organized. Her bed was made and everything was orderly. The only thing that was missing was Rukia.

He pondered if he made the right decision kicking her out, but she needed to learn he wouldn't always be there to provide for her; she needed to toughen up.

He himself realized that he sheltered her from the world. She was too innocent, too sweet to be living in a world like this. Bad things happened to good people and he needed to make sure she realized that.

Byakuya went back on his way to his room. From a keypad next to his bedroom door, he locked down the entire house and activated the security cameras. Taking extra precaution measures, he locked his bedroom door and windows. He pulled the blinds down and yanked the curtains closed.

Investigating his room, Byakuya made sure everything was in place.

Changing into his nightwear, he climbed into bed and opened his personal laptop.

Pulling up his email, he dreaded the awaiting message in his inbox. The unread icon flashed next to it.

Byakuya was not a man to dread or fear anything. Yet here he was, too afraid to click on the message that sat untouched in his inbox.

He could only hope that Rukia found somewhere safe to stay. Somewhere far away from him.

He had to push her away before something bad happened; he had to keep her out of the mess that he had gotten himself into. She was too innocent to be dragged into this game he had fallen prey to.

He could only pray that she was safe and far, far away.

**A/N: I wanted to say thank you for everyone who favorited, followed, or left a review. It means a lot to me.**

**Oooh, what could be happening to Byakuya? Why is he trying to keep Rukia away from him? Read on to find out!**

**It'd be fantastic if you would leave a review with your thoughts about today's chapter. **

**I love you, my darlings.**

**-Bluekit5**

**P.S I'm thinking of updating once or twice a week on Friday/Saturday. How does that sound? **


	3. Awkwardness

**A/N: The italicized paragraph is a flashback. **

Rukia sighed for the millionth time as she unpacked the few clothes she had into the guestroom dresser.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," she said aloud to herself. Neatly folding her clothes, she put them in the dresser drawer before shutting it.

She was staying in one of the guestrooms. Ichigo left her alone to unpack and what not.

Rukia sat down on the bed. Putting her empty bag beside her, she smoothed down the already neat sheets.

There was an identical bed across from the one she was sitting on. Ichigo told her that this was the room where his sisters stayed when they came over to visit.

Standing up, she stalked out to the living room where Ichigo was sitting on the couch. He had her back to her as he read a veterinary magazine.

"Are you a vet or something?" she asked.

She must have startled him for he slightly jumped before turning his head to look at her.

"Yeah, I am," he said and put down his magazine.

"Never would have guessed," she commented and sat on the other end of the couch.

He narrowed his eyes. "Is that surprising to you?"

"I just never thought you of all people would have become an animal doctor." Rukia folded her legs under herself and leaned on the back of the couch.

"I didn't want to deal with people, but I still wanted to be a doctor; animals were the next best thing." Ichigo nodded awkwardly and put his feet up on the coffee table.

Rukia looked down at the floor. An awkward silence fell upon them.

Neither of them knew what to say. Their last conversation as high schoolers hadn't ended well.

It was obvious many things had happened since they last talked.

"So, did you go to Uni or anything after school?" Ichigo broke the silence. His voice echoed throughout the quiet room.

"Uh, just long enough to complete the required courses." Rukia continued to stare at the floor. "I still haven't figured out my major."

Ichigo nodded and fidgeted with the buttons on his shirt. He checked the time on his phone. "Hey, it's almost dinner. What do you want?"

"Anything," was Rukia's reply.

Ichigo was relieved to have been able to escape the room for a little bit as he prepared dinner. The tension in the room was obvious.

He had no clue what to say to her at all. It was strange to sit in the same room as the girl who had nearly convinced him that she hated him and try to make small talk.

He shoved a pan of frozen food in the oven. Leaning on the counter, he counted down the minutes until it would be ready.

His phone rang. He didn't need to check it to know it was his father.

Isshin had called him nonstop since Ichigo hung up on him earlier that day.

He pressed the green button and held the phone up to his ear.

"What do you want this time, old man?"

_"__Now you answer! That wasn't very nice of you to hang up on me!" _Isshin said very matter-of-factly.

"I couldn't talk to you at that moment. I had someone over." Ichigo's hand went up to ruffle his hair.

_"__Someone was over? Was it your boyfriend? When can we meet him?" _There was commotion on the other end of the line. _"Karin, Yuzu! Ichigo here got himself a boyfriend!"_

"Listen old man, I'm not gay for the last time. It wasn't my boyfriend over; it was my girlfriend."

There was silence on the other end. Then Isshin exploded. _"That's my boy! I always knew you weren't gay! I mean with how tight your wear your pants, one can only imagine… Who's the lovely lady? When can we meet her? KARIN, YUZU ICHIGO HAS A GIRLYFRIEND!"_

Ichigo's eye twitched and he rubbed his temple with his hand. "Calm down, dad! You guys can meet her soon, but don't scare her off, alright?" He paused. "And my pants aren't that tight."

Isshin laughed. _"Whatever you say, son. Tell us whenever you're free! I can't believe my little boy is a man now."_

"Okay. Well, I have to go. Bye." Ichigo hung up quickly before Isshin began to ramble. He wasn't in the mood to listen to his father ramble about the stupidest of things.

He checked the food in the oven. It was done. Pulling the pan out, he set it on the stove and called for Rukia.

"Was that your father again?" she asked as she sat at the kitchen table.

"How did you know?" Ichigo grabbed two plates from the cabinet.

"First of all, you're voice was extremely loud so I could only assume that you were talking to your father. Plus you said dad so it could only be assumed." Rukia grinned. "Guess I'm saving your ass, aren't I?"

Ichigo pointed a finger at her. "Don't forget I'm letting you stay here and paying you to pretend to be my girlfriend. I'm the one saving _your _ass."

Rukia dismissed him with a hand. "Whatever."

Ichigo handed Rukia a plate of food and sat down across from her.

"Mozzarella sticks?" Rukia questioned.

"It's food," Ichigo said and shoved one in his mouth.

"Do you know how unhealthy premade, frozen food is for you?" Rukia stared at him and left her plate untouched.

"I do, but I don't care. I don't have the time or patience to make real food." Ichigo continued to scarf down his food while Rukia watched with disdain. "What?"

Rukia shook her head and began to eat. Perhaps she would have to teach him how to cook real food instead of eating unhealthy frozen food.

When they were finished, Ichigo collected their plates and put them in the sink.

"What do you want to do now?" he said tidying up the kitchen.

Rukia shrugged. "Do you have any books I could borrow?"

"Sure." Ichigo led her to the living room. One wall of the room was covered with bookcases that went from the floor to the ceiling.

When Rukia gave him an astonished looked, he shrugged. "I like to read."

Rukia poured over the books, one entire bookcase of them being veterinary books, and picked one out.

She retreated to 'her' room with it. She sat on top of her bed and opened the book. She tried to read it, but she wasn't taking in a single word she read. Her mind was focused on something else.

All the memories she had suppressed of Ichigo came silently creeping back into her mind.

_"__Ichigo!" Rukia called out and ran up to him. She punched his shoulder. "You were supposed to wait for me!"_

_Ichigo laughed and shrugged. "You were taking to long." He punched her back, but more gently than she had punched him._

_Rukia stuck her tongue out at him. "Are we going over to your house today?"_

_"__Yeah, Karin and Yuzu want to see you. They've missed you." _

_Rukia laughed. Her laugh was light and care-free. "I bet. I mean, I'm charming, aren't I?"_

_Ichigo snorted. "Totally. Now, come let's go." He grabbed her by her arm and pulled her along with him._

_Rukia tried not to blush at the contact. Her heart leapt into her chest and butterflies erupted from her stomach. _

_She had a crush on him since the beginning of the school year. They had been friends since they were little and she had grown to like him more than a friend. _

_"__Hurry up slow poke!" He was still holding onto her arm as he dragged her through the streets and to his house. _

_Rukia stumbled after him and tried to keep up with him. He had grown over the summer and his legs were now longer than hers. _

_When they finally reached his hous,. Rukia's heart dropped to her stomach when she saw Orihime Inoue standing in Ichigo's doorway._

Rukia was pulled from her short flashback when there was a knock at her bedroom door. She snapped out of her trance and said, "Enter."

Ichigo swung the door open. He leaned against the doorframe. "Just so you know I'll be gone tomorrow because I have to go down the clinic. I don't know what you plan to do."

Rukia bit the inside of her cheek. "I can just hang around here. I can probably read or cook you an actual meal since your skills are inadequate."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "My skills aren't up to par? And since when did you learn to cook?"

"Byakuya made me take a cooking class after I nearly burnt down the house last year trying to cook him dinner." Rukia choked her brother's name out.

Ichigo just nodded. "Okay, sounds good. 'Night." And with that he disappeared.

The tension between them was still there, but at least it has lessened a little.

Rukia looked over the book in her hands before putting it down on the end of her bed.

Will this even work out? She thought and rested her head against the headboard.

* * *

Byakuya stirred sugar into his tea as he sat at the table reading the paper. His eyes scanned over the dull news, not really taking in anything.

His spoon clattered on the table when his phone rang. With a shaking hand, he answered it. He already knew who it was.

_"__Kuchiki, nice of you to finally answer! Don't ya know we was trying to reach ya?" _The man on the other end of the phone said before Byakuya could utter a word.

"I was aware," Byakuya said in a cold tone. Although he acted and sounded emotionless, it did not displayed what he was feeling inside.

_"__Then why didn't ya answer? Boss man is not very pleased."_

"There was a reason I was avoiding your calls and emails."

_"__We know. We'll leave ya alone as soon as you pay for his expenses. All this trouble will go away." _

"You know perfectly well I won't pay for his expenses. He owes you money, not me."

_"__But ya see here, Byakuya, he's dead and his debt is unpaid. We need someone to pay it, ya get it?"_

"I'm sorry, but like I said earlier, that is not my problem."

The man sighed. _"Byakuya, I don't think ya understand. We poured money into his business. He's dead. We lost money because of him and need it back. You have the money. Ya see what I'm saying here?"_

"I do, but that still doesn't change things. You will leave me alone. I'm not paying and that's final."

_"__Ya were always a stubborn one. I didn't want to threaten ya or anything, but ya leave me no choice. Either you pay us within the next few weeks or else something bad will happen to that little sis of yours. Rukia, was her name?" _

Byakuya gripped the phone tighter. "Leave her out of this."

_"__Ya know what ya have to do." _The man laughed once before the line went dead.

**A/N: Update time! I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review of what you thought of the chapter or a constructed criticism or whatever tickles your fancy.**

**I love you, my darlings! Until next time!**

**-Bluekit5**


	4. Malls and Bunnies

Ichigo had left before Rukia woke up.

When she finally did awake, she wandered around the empty apartment with the book from last night in hand. She went over to one of the windows in the living room. She looked down and realized how far up Ichigo's apartment was.

The people and cars looked almost like ants.

Rukia turned around from the window and set her book down on the coffee table. She was unsure of what to do. She didn't want to mess with any of Ichigo's stuff, but she was bored out of her mind.

Walking into the kitchen, she rummaged through his cabinets. "He barely has anything I can work with," she said in an exasperated voice. She pushed aside cans of preserved food. "Doesn't he know all this stuff is unhealthy?"

Giving up on trying making something edible in her eyes, she went back to her book.

She flipped through the pages, suddenly uninterested. She tried to force herself to read, but her mind seemed to wander after every word she read.

She wondered if Byakuya was okay.

She thought about how she hadn't talked to Renji in over a week.

And she pondered whether the fake girlfriend idea was going to work.

Rukia never had a boyfriend before. Sure, she had many crushes that she never acted upon, but never a boyfriend. How exactly do couples act?

She spent most of high school ignoring couples, especially a certain orange-haired pair.

Letting out a sigh, she set the book down. "I wonder if he has any coloring materials?"

When Ichigo came home, he found Rukia sprawled out in the living room with drawings and crayons spread out around her. She lifted up her head when she heard him enter.

"I hope you don't mind if I borrowed the crayons and paper. I got bored," she said and went back to coloring a bunny.

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow and picked up one of her drawings to inspect it. It was that bunny she always obsessed over, Chappy. "Your drawings haven't gotten any better last time I checked."

Rukia sat up on her knees and crossed her arms. "For your information, Byakuya gave me drawing lessons. He's one of the best artists I know and he was willingly to pass some of his talent onto me."

Ichigo shook his head. "Whatever you say, Short Stack."

Rukia gave him a sharp look. "Don't call me that or else I'll start calling you Strawberry again."

Ichigo lifted his hands in surrender before gently setting Rukia's drawing back on the ground beside her. He tossed his bag on the couch.

Walking into the kitchen, he shifted through the fridge for something to eat.

Rukia cleaned up the papers and crayons and joined him in the kitchen. "Have you confirmed when your family is coming over?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Soon, I hope. I want to get this over with."

Rukia gave him another sharp look when he had his back turned to her. "I can't say I disagree with that."

"Am I not pleasant to live with?" Ichigo said over his shoulder.

"Well, despite the fact that all you have here to eat is unhealthy food, I suppose not." Rukia shrugged. She had only been there for a day so it was hard to tell what it was like to live with him.

Ichigo grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with tap water. "I'm a guy what do you expect?"

"I guess you never really changed since I last saw you, did you?" Rukia leaned against the kitchen table.

"Neither have you." Ichigo set his glass down. He went through the cabinet and pulled out a box of macaroni. "Is this okay for dinner?"

Rukia narrowed her eyes at the box, but made no comment; she simply nodded.

Ichigo made the macaroni and they ate dinner in silence.

The awkward silences and small talk killed them both. Neither of them knew what to saw to each other.

Ichigo watched Rukia as she pushed the rest of her macaroni around her bowl with her fork. He studied her face. He hadn't seen her in three years and it felt weird how different they both had become.

Rukia grew her hair longer, her hair just barely reaching the top of her breasts. She was slightly taller than she was before, but nowhere near as tall as Ichigo.

He quickly dropped his gaze when Rukia looked up. He scooped the rest of his food in his mouth, stood up, and put his dish in the sink.

Rukia followed suit.

Ichigo turned around and Rukia bumped into him. He put his hands on her shoulders to steady her as she was slightly pushed back.

Rukia was quick to remove herself from him and hurried around him. Both of their cheeks were lightly tinted pink, but neither of them said anything.

Ichigo put a hand in his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what you want to do. It's still pretty early in the night."

Rukia, still a little flustered from the contact they had-as small and meaningless as it had been-, retreated from the room, calling over her shoulder, "I think I'll just read."

Ichigo watched her leave and sighed. He was baffled on how to act around her. It was obvious things had changed since high school. They really didn't fight, but they weren't comfortable around each other.

It seemed their relationship in high school was entirely based on their hatred for each other and their ability to start a fight with the other over absolutely nothing.

I still don't know why we fought so much, Ichigo thought.

Rukia knew exactly why they fought so much. It hadn't started until Ichigo started dating Orihime.

_Rukia awkwardly walked behind Ichigo as he held hands with Orihime in front of her. Although she tried to ignore the jealous feeling bubbling up inside her every time she looked down to see their hands intertwined, she couldn't help it._

_Ichigo and Orihime started dating a month ago and Rukia felt extremely stupid when Ichigo told her._

_The day Ichigo announced that he and Orihime were dating was the day Rukia decided to finally tell him how she truly felt about him. That obviously didn't happen._

_As she trailed behind the couple, she tried to feel happy for him. He looked happy to be Orihime. _

_Rukia couldn't bring herself to hate Orihime. The girl was too sweet and friendly for Rukia to hate her; she even tried becoming friends with Rukia since she knew Ichigo was friends with her. _

_"__Want to stop by the ice cream shop with us, Rukia?" Ichigo asked over his shoulder. _

_Rukia immediately knew she didn't want to third wheel with them. It happened every time the couple tried to include her in their plans. _

_"__Byakuya wants me to come home straight away. He says I have to go run a few errands with him," Rukia lied. "Sorry."_

_"__Oh, it's fine. Maybe we can all hangout another time!" Orihime said and turned her head to smile at Rukia._

_"__Maybe," Rukia echoed. _

_She picked up her pace and turned the corner that led to her street. She waved goodbye at the two before hurrying home. _

_Later that night, Ichigo called her._

_"__Are you okay?" he asked her._

_Rukia started to pace the length of her room; she always had to be moving while talking on the phone. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"_

_"__You seemed sad when we were walking home."_

_"__Oh." _

_"__You can tell me if there's something wrong, Rukia. I'm here for you."_

_"__Are you sure about that? You've been spending an awful lot of time with Orihime." Rukia don't know why she said that. It just came out of her mouth._

_"__I've spent time with you, too."_

_"__With Orihime."_

_"__She's my girlfriend. I can't hangout with my own girlfriend?"_

_"__You can, but you shouldn't push your friends away to spend all your time with your girlfriend." Rukia was asking for a fight now. She kind of wanted to egg Ichigo on._

_Ichigo sighed through the phone. "I'm sorry if it seems like I'm spending too much time with her than you. Let's hangout on Friday, just you and me. We can go get ice cream like we always used to."_

_And there was the level-headed idiot she loved. He refused to fight with her just as she expected._

_"__Okay," she said sitting on her bed. _

_"__Alright then. See you later!"_

_"__See you later." Rukia hung up. _

_She tossed the phone next to her and lay down. _

_It was times like these she really wished she still had her sister to talk to. _

Rukia sighed and looked out her bedroom window. Her fingers turned the pages of the same book she had been trying to read. She couldn't read.

She didn't know why she bothered to even try. Every time she did, her mind wandered to the topic of Ichigo and herself.

All the memories she had suppressed of them had come flooding back ever since yesterday. Most of which she wished would stay put away.

There was a knock at her door. She turned from the window and called, "Enter."

Ichigo came through the door. They stared at each other for a moment before he spoke. "I was wondering if you wanted to come shopping with me tomorrow." He paused as his lips twitched upwards. "Since you claim you're such a good chef, we could go pick up whatever you need to cook."

"Sure, that sounds good," she said. Her fingers played with the hem of her shirt pulling and tugging at the fabric.

If Ichigo noticed her fidgeting, he said nothing. "Oh, and if you want, we can go to the mall or something like that and pick you up more clothes. Evidently, you can only wear the same few shirts so many times before it becomes noticeable."

"I suppose."

Ichigo stood in her doorframe for a few more seconds before leaving.

Rukia let go of her shirt and sighed. This awkward, tension-filled air around them was killing her. She hated it.

* * *

The next day Ichigo held true to his word and took them out to the nearest mall.

The ride there was quiet except for the low sound of the radio that Ichigo turned on to try and cover up the silence.

Ichigo easily navigated the huge mall with Rukia closely following him. They stopped near the first clothing store they found.

Ichigo turned to her and gestured for her to go into the store in front of him. She slightly nodded and hurried inside the store.

When she went in, she realized that the store was an extremely expensive brand name store. She shook her head as she turned to Ichigo. "I can't afford any of this stuff. Let's go somewhere else."

She tried slipping past him, but he gently grabbed her arm. "Who says I'm letting you pay for anything today?"

Rukia gaped at him. "I'm not letting you pay for anything for me. Byakuya gave me money before he kic- I mean I left."

"I don't care. Since you're my "girlfriend"- he paused to put quotation marks around the word girlfriend with his fingers- "I'm going to be a good boyfriend and buy you things. Isn't that what couples do?"

Rukia crossed her arms over her chest. "You're not buying me anything."

Ichigo shrugged, walked past her, and started throwing random articles of clothing over his arm.

"W-what are you doing?" Rukia swiftly walked over to him and put her hands on her hips.

"If you won't pick anything out for yourself, I'll choose it for you." Ichigo held up a shirt to Rukia, paused for a moment, and then nodded his head.

"You don't know my size," Rukia said.

"I can guess and you're tiny so it's not that hard."

Ichigo went from rack to rack of clothing. The pile in his arms grew larger.

"Stop it, Ichigo!" Rukia tugged on his arm. "I don't need any of this."

"Oh relax, won't you?" Ichigo ignored her protesting and went up tot the cash register.

Rukia dared not to look at the price of the clothing when it rung up.

They left with two bags. Ichigo held the bags while Rukia walked next to him, pouting.

"I can't believe you!" she said as soon as they were out the store. "I'll never be able to pay you back!"

"You're not paying me back," Ichigo sternly said.

"Yes I am. You just wasted all that money on me."

Ichigo waved his hand at her. Rukia huffed at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh, stop pouting," Ichigo said and poked her cheek with his free hand. "It's no big deal to me. Stop fussing over it."

Rukia huffed at him once more, but said nothing. He rolled his eyes and nudged her arm with his elbow. She elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow, that hurt!" Ichigo rubbed his ribcage.

"It better have hurt," Rukia muttered.

"You still have a strong arm, holy shit."

They wandered through the mall. They passed many stores, but Rukia refused to go in any of them.

At one point, Ichigo grabbed her arm and dragged her into one of the more girly stores.

"I'm buying you clothes," he said once he got her inside the store, but not without many strange stares. "We're not leaving until you pick something out."

"Okay." Rukia suddenly plopped down to the floor. She sat criss-crossed. "I guess we'll be here a while then."

Ichigo passed a hand over his face. "Why are you being so difficult? I'm just trying to be a good fake boyfriend."

"You bought me enough at the last store." Rukia received many strange looks as other customers passed by her.

"Are you okay, miss?" An older lady asked.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you for asking." Rukia smiled at the older lady.

The woman continued on her way, muttering about how the younger generation was strange.

"Come on, Rukia." Ichigo tapped his foot as the two received even more strange looks.

"Nope," Rukia said.

"Okay, that's it." Ichigo bent down, picked her up by the waist, and tucked her under his arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rukia struggled in his arm and hit his side with a balled-up fist.

"You wouldn't get up." Ichigo walked out of the store with a few women gasping at his actions.

"You can put me down now." Rukia fidgeted in his grasp.

"Nope."

"We're getting weird looks, put me down," she hissed at him.

"I'll put you down if you let me buy you something at the next store we go to."

"Fine. Now put me down."

Ichigo set her on her feet. Rukia glared up at him. "Was that necessary?"

"It was."

Sticking her tongue out at him, Rukia walked ahead of him. Ichigo chuckled and followed her.

An hour later, Ichigo was carrying two more bags in addition to the first two. Rukia glared up at the orange-haired idiot.

"You didn't have spend all this on me," she said as they walked to the car.

"I wanted to." Ichigo swung the bags back and forth.

"Well, I didn't want you to." Rukia glanced up at his face. "But thanks."

"Welcome." Ichigo handed the bags to her as he fished his car keys out of his pocket.

"How could you afford to shop at those stores? They're insanely expensive," Rukia commented as they drove out of the mall parking lot.

"I have the only animal clinic in the city. I get good business from that fact."

"Oh." Rukia settled back into her seat. Today was nice. She hadn't felt as awkward around Ichigo as she had before.

She was still a little upset that Ichigo had spent all that money on her. She didn't like people buying her things. Still, it was kind of him to do so.

It was later in the day. Ichigo had taken them to the grocery store for Rukia to pick out items she could use to cook.

After they got home, Ichigo got a call from his clinic.

"What is it, Uryu?" Ichigo paused as he listened. "I'll be there straight away." He shut his phone.

"What's going on?" Rukia peeked her head out of the fridge.

"I got a call from the clinic. I need to go down there immediately." Ichigo grabbed his things. "You'll be fine here?"

"Yeah." Rukia closed the fridge.

"I'll be back." Ichigo waved at her and shut the front door after him.

"I wonder what happened," Rukia mused aloud.

Finished putting the food away, she picked up the shopping bags from the kitchen table and went to her room with them.

Folding them neatly and putting them in the dresser, she hummed to herself. Once she was finished, she walked into the living room.

She sat on the couch and leaned her head back. Her day had been exhausting. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.

A loud sound abruptly woke Rukia up. A hand went up to cover her mouth as she yawned.

Ichigo came into the living room with a box in hand.

"What did they need you there at the clinic for?" she asked as she curiously looked at the box in his hands.

"This," Ichigo said and opened the box. In the box sat a small bunny. The poor thing was huddled up against one wall of the box, shaking.

Rukia's eyes widened and she let out a small 'oh.' She tentatively reached in the box and picked up the shaking bunny. Cradling the bunny to her chest, she looked up at Ichigo.

"What happened?"

"Someone found the poor thing in a box on the side of the highway. We couldn't trace him back to an owner," Ichigo explained putting the box down on the coffee table.

"But why did you bring him here?"

"I didn't want to leave him all alone in a strange cage overnight. He seems pretty shaken up and…uh." Ichigo scratched his hair. "I…uh, I know that you like bunnies so I thought I'd just thought I'd bring him here."

"Poor little thing," Rukia said softly as she carefully held the bunny to her chest. Petting him with one finger, she looked back up at Ichigo. "He's adorable."

Ichigo nodded. "I brought home an extra cage that we keep around at the clinic if you want to set it up."

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia sat down for the dinner Rukia made after they set up Chappy in his new temporary home.

Ichigo suspiciously eyed the food in front of him. It looked good to him, but he didn't trust it. The Rukia he knew from high school couldn't cook for shit.

Rukia raised an eyebrow when she saw Ichigo hadn't touched his food yet. "I promise I haven't poisoned it."

Ichigo gave her a doubtful look before raising it to his mouth. He took a bite.

Rukia stared at his face waiting for his reaction.

"Wow, this is exactly pretty good," Ichigo said.

Rukia smugly smiled. "Told you."

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. Afterwards, Rukia took out Chappy and played with him.

"Aren't you a cute little bunny," she cooed as she held him up to her face. "You are the cutest."

Ichigo's lips twitched up as he watched Rukia play with Chappy. He returned his attention to his laptop, not paying attention to Rukia and Chappy.

He only looked up when he realized Rukia had fallen silent. Rukia lay curled up on the floor with Chappy trapped between her arms. She had fallen asleep.

Chappy twitched his nose as he tried to escape Rukia's death grip on him.

Ichigo set his laptop aside and silently crept up on Rukia. Bending down, he pried Chappy from her and put the bunny back in his cage.

Rukia curled her fingers over the now empty space. She shifted in her sleep.

Ichigo slid his hands under her torso and lifted her up. Carrying her to her room, he set her down on the bed and pulled a blanket over her.

She nestled her face into the pillow and let out a happy sigh.

Ichigo shook his head and went out of the room.

* * *

Byakuya received no more calls from them, but he did receive emails warning him what would happen if he didn't comply.

He let out a shaky sigh as he closed his laptop after reading another email from them.

His phone rang and he turned pale. He reached for it, praying it wasn't them calling. He had been on edge since the last phone call he had with them.

"Hello?" he said.

_"__Good evening, Byakuya. I'm sorry to have called you at such a late hour, but we have another lead on the case."_

"Yamamoto, it's good to hear from you. What have lead have they picked up?" Byakuya was relieved to hear Yamamoto's voice.

"We picked up a lead from a man named Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. He says he knew Aizen. We're checking it out now."

"That's good. Please keep me updated on what he says."

"Of course, Byakuya. Have a good evening."

Byakuya hung up. He sighed and rested his head against the back of his chair. Hopefully this new lead would lead them to the answer to getting Byakuya out of this mess.

**A/N: I hoped you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, and/or reviewed! It means the world to me. **

**Please leave a review containing your thoughts about the chapter. It's much appreciated! **

**Some of you guessed who was on the phone last chapter; it was a bit obvious, I suppose. **

**Thank you for reading!**

**I love you, my darlings!**

**-Bluekit5**


	5. He's not Gay, He Swears

Rukia woke up with a start. She was in a cold sweat. Her hair stuck to her face and her heart was beating a mile a minute.

Placing a hand on her heart, she focused on her breathing to calm her down. Once she finally calmed down, she sat up. She pushed the covers off her and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Setting her feet down on the cold floor, she stood up.

She walked as quietly as she could to the kitchen. Trying to be as silent as she possibly could, she filled a glass with water. She took large gulps of it.

She stood in the kitchen, glass in hand, until she felt calmer. She was still shaking slightly because of the nightmare, but she felt a bit better.

Turning around, she came face to face with a chest. She was about to let out a scream, but a large hand covered her mouth.

"It's just me, Rukia," Ichigo said. He removed his hand from her mouth and ran it through his hair. "Can't sleep?"  
Rukia shook her head. Noticing how close they were, she took a step back. Her grip around her glass had gotten tighter. "You can't sleep either?"

"No." Ichigo stepped around her and also went to get a glass of water. "What's keeping you up?"

"Oh, nothing really." Rukia didn't want to talk about her nightmare.

Ichigo looked over his shoulder and raised his eyebrow, but said nothing. He took a sip from his water and turned back to face Rukia.

"What's keeping you up?" Rukia redirected the question toward him.

"Just can't sleep," he said. Leaning against the counter, he set his glass down.

"Well, I better go back to bed." Rukia quickly scurried from the room and back to her room.

She sighed as she set the glass down and sat on the edge of her bed. Her cheeks were tinted pink.

Why did she always get flustered when he got close? It's not like she thought of him in that way, anyways. At least, not anymore.

_Lately, Rukia had been getting weird feelings while she was around Ichigo. She didn't understand why her stomach felt tingly whenever she was around him. Or why her cheeks would flush when he hugged or touched her._

_Ichigo called earlier to see if she wanted to go to the local park, but she lied and said she couldn't. She wanted to figure out why she was feeling like she was when she was around him._

_The problem was she had no one to ask. Most girls would have went to their mother or older sister for help, but Rukia had neither. She couldn't ask Byakuya because she knew her brother wasn't very fond of Ichigo._

_So she went to the most trusted website in the world: Google._

_'Why do I feel awkward around my guy friend?' She typed the phrase in and clicked enter._

_Numerous sites appeared within a few seconds. She clicked on a random site and quickly scanned it._

_She frowned and abruptly exited out of the site. That article couldn't have explained exactly why she felt weird around Ichigo. It was just some gossip site. What it said couldn't have been true._

_She couldn't have a crush on her best friend._

* * *

Rukia woke up the next day with her head leaning against the headboard and her legs stretched out. She groaned as she sat up. That was not a comfortable position to have fallen asleep in.

She was about to walk out of the room when she heard two sets of voices. She recognized Ichigo's voice, but not the other voice. It sounded like a male.

She hesitated at her door with her hand on the knob.

"Hey, get your feet off my coffee table!" Ichigo yelled.

There was a loud laugh and a thump.

"Quiet! You'll wake up Rukia!" There was another thump.

"So how's that going? It must be nice having a chick around 24/7," the other male voice said.

"Oi! Shut up! She's just a friend that I'm helping out."

The male cackled. "Helping out!"

"Shut up! I didn't mean it like that!"

There was once again another thump.

Rukia silently crept out of her room and peered around the hallway corner into the living room. On the living room floor, Ichigo pinned down a blue-haired man.

"Take it back!" Ichigo yelled.

"You can't make me!" The blue-haired man shoved Ichigo off him before whacking him upside the head.

Rukia leaned against the wall with a smirk on her face as she watched the two men wrestle. Ichigo lunged at the blue-haired man, but the man dodged him.

"I'm going to make you eat your words, you stupid house cat!" Ichigo got a hold of the man's shirt and pulled him close.

"I'm not gay, I swear," Rukia said and put quotation marks around her words with her fingers as she walked in the middle of the room.

Ichigo and the man froze at the sight of her. Noticing how close his face was to the man's, he quickly shoved the man away. "I'm not! I'm just teaching Grimmjow a lesson!"

Rukia cracked a smile when Ichigo became flustered at her words.

The man who Ichigo called Grimmjow started cracking up. "Kurosaki, you have a way with words."

Ichigo's face turned a flaming red color and he punched Grimmjow in the shoulder. 'Shut up, will you? I don't even know why I let you come over. You're a pain in the ass."

"Whatever," Grimmjow said and punched Ichigo back. He turned his attention to Rukia. "You must Rukia. Kurosaki has been talking about you nonstop since I go here."

If it was even possible for Ichigo's face to become redder, it did. "Stop talking bullshit, you stupid house cat."

"What the fuck did you call me?" Grimmjow looked back over at Ichigo.

"You heard me. I called you a stupid house cat because you are one." Ichigo smirked, but it was soon wiped off his face as Grimmjow lunged at him.

"Take it back, you stupid Strawberry!" Grimmjow knocked Ichigo down and sat on his back. "I am not a house cat, I am a wild cat! We've been through this!"

"HA you wish." Ichigo started to laugh. "You're a house cat! House cat, house cat, house-" Ichigo's chanting was stopped as Grimmjow smacked his face.

"Shut up, Strawberry!"

Rukia watched their interaction with an amused expression. "When you two are done fighting, let me know." She walked past them and into the kitchen.

She made herself breakfast and went back out into the living room. Grimmjow was still sitting on Ichigo's back as the two kept up their bickering.

Both men shut up when she walked back in the room and eyed the plate of pancakes in her hand.

"Do you make us any?" Ichigo asked.

"Nope," Rukia said and sat down on the couch.

Both men scrambled up.

"But we're hungry," Ichigo complained.

"Too bad." She was about to start eating when she noticed the two advancing toward her. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Suddenly, Grimmjow grabbed for the plate of pancakes while Ichigo grabbed Rukia.

"Hey!" she shouted as Grimmjow ran away with her food.

"Run, Grimmjow, run! I'll hold her back!" Ichigo said as Grimmjow disappeared. "And save some for me, you fat house cat!"

Rukia struggled in Ichigo's grasp. "Put me down! Those were my pancakes!"

"We're hungry." Ichigo not so gently dumped Rukia on the couch before disappearing after Grimmjow.

"Come back with my food, you stupid Strawberry and house cat!" Rukia was up in a flash. She ran down the hallway and searched Ichigo's room for any sign of them. They weren't in his room. She checked the bathroom, then the second spare room before checking her room.

Sitting on her bed with an empty plate and their mouths full was Ichigo and Grimmjow.

"You're good at cooking," Grimmjow said.

"I told you so," Ichigo said and nudged Grimmjow with his elbow. They both grinned at each other.

Rukia scowled at them. "That was _my _food."

They both shrugged. "You snooze, you lose," Ichigo said.

"You both better go make me pancakes or else," Rukia threatened.

"You're a midget. Your threats mean nothing to us," Grimmjow said. He turned to Ichigo. "What's the worst she could do?"

Ten minutes later, Ichigo and Grimmjow were in the kitchen trying to make pancakes. Each had a handprint on one of their cheeks.

"Damn midget," Ichigo muttered.

"This is your fault," Grimmjow said. He tried to flip a pancake, but it slipped off the spatula and landed on Ichigo's foot.

"You came up with the plan." Ichigo peeled the half-cooked pancake off his foot and threw it away.

"Whatever." Grimmjow rolled his eyes.

"So why did you come here anyways? I forgot to ask you after you insulted me." Ichigo looked at Grimmjow.

Grimmjow became very quiet. He stared down at a burning pancake in a frying pan. "I was brought in for questioning this morning before I came over."

"Questioning? For what?" Ichigo took the spatula from Grimmjow and quickly scooped up the burnt pancake from the pan.

"They think I have something to do with that bastard Aizen's death."

"Aizen Sosuke?"

"Yeah. They questioned the fuck out of me. I thought they would never stop asking me questions."

"You didn't, did you?"

"Of course I fucking didn't!" Grimmjow's eye twitched. "I was unfortunate enough to know the bastard."

"That's all?"

"Well…I'm not certain, but I heard the lawyer who was questioning me talking to a man who acted as if a pole was five feet deep in his ass…"

"And?" Ichigo completely turned to face Grimmjow. The pancakes were forgotten for the time being.

"They were talking about Rukia. I didn't hear much because this rude ass cop was trying to get me out, but I heard something about someone going after Rukia or some shit like that."

"Someone going after Rukia?" Ichigo asked slightly confused. "Why?"

"I don't know. I didn't hear much cause' of that damn cop nearly pushing me out of the office."

Ichigo pondered over the new information. Someone was after Rukia?

"I just wanted to let you know since she's living here and now." Grimmjow suggestively raised his eyebrows.

"It's not like that!" Ichigo protested. His face was once again red.

"Little Ichigo is blushing!" Grimmjow shoved Ichigo.

"Shut up! I'm just helping her out since her brother kicked her out." Ichigo slightly stumbled back. He pushed Grimmjow back. "Stupid house cat."

When Rukia heard shouting from the kitchen, she reluctantly got up from the couch and went in to investigate. She found the two covered from head to toe in pancake batter. Grimmjow was kicking Ichigo's shins while Ichigo smacked him upside the head.

"I leave you two idiots alone for a few minutes and this happens." Rukia crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them. "I'm not cleaning this up."

The two froze when they heard her.

"Are you two-year-olds?"

"Maybe…" Grimmjow said.

"I've had enough of you two." Rukia left the two to clean up.

While she waited for them to clean up, she took out Chappy.

"Who's a good little bunny?" she cooed as she cradled him in her arms.

Chappy wiggled his whiskers and hopped from her arms. He nuzzled her leg with his nose before hopping toward the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't." Rukia grabbed Chappy. "Those two idiots have to finish cleaning up."

An hour later, the kitchen was clean. It had taken a few shouts and yells from Rukia to get them to complete the task, but it had been done.

Grimmjow left after he snagged some of the lunch Rukia prepared.

Ichigo had gone down to the clinic and Rukia was left alone again.

She lounged on the couch with Chappy lying by her feet. Flipping through a magazine, she left out a sigh. She was once again bored.

Ichigo and Grimmjow's bickering had provided her entertainment despite the headache it gave her. Now the apartment was completely silent expect for the occasional sigh from her.

"Oh Chappy," she said. "Things around here are just going to get more interesting."

* * *

Byakuya rubbed his temples with a hand. The man, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, had proved to be useless. He hadn't known many things about Aizen Sosuke.

Yamamoto rested a hand of Byakuya's shoulder. "We will find answers, Byakuya. Do not worry for it helps nothing. Jeagerjaques was just a dead end. We have another person we are bringing in for questioning. They may know more."

Byakuya sighed before nodding. "Thank you, Yamamoto, it means a lot. Hopefully we will get more information out of this person."

"Even if we don't, we won't stop until we find the right person. I will build your case. It takes some time."

"Thank you." Byakuya swiftly packed up his briefcase. He nodded to Yamamoto before leaving the legal office.

He held his head high as he walked to his car. When he reached the car, though, his heart plunged to his stomach. His face paled.

Neatly tucked under his windshield wiper was a neatly written out note. It was not a ticket.

He snatched it up before getting in his car and locking the doors. His eyes scanned over the words.

_You have little over a week left. _

He crumpled up the note in his fist.

"No," he whispered and threw the crumpled up note in the passenger seat.

A/N: I hoped you liked the chapter! Sorry it's a week late. I was too busy to upload a chapter last week! I tried to make it a bit more light-hearted. Things will start picking up in the next chapter! Rukia and Ichigo will get a surprise visit…but from who? Thanks for reading! Please leave a review with your thoughts!

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed. It means the world to me!**

**I love you, my darlings!**


	6. Men are Clueless

**Please read the author's note at the end. Thanks. **

Rukia found herself once again bored as she spent another day in the apartment, lounging around.

She spread out on the couch with Chappy on the floor happily munching on a carrot. Chappy twitched his whiskers.

"Oh Chappy, what are we supposed to do?" Rukia asked the bunny as if he would answer her.

She sat up before scooping the bunny in her arms and cuddling him to her chest. Chappy wiggled around in her grasp.

"Help me figure out what to do. I can't stay coped up in here, but I don't want to go out and roam around in the streets."

Rukia stood up with Chappy in her arms. She was about to go into the kitchen when a sharp pain shot through her stomach. She doubled over in pain, nearly dropping the bunny.

"Shit," she said aloud. Quickly putting Chappy in his cage, she walked as fast as she could to the bathroom. "Not now."

After checking her pants, she groaned. Just as she expected, there was a large bloodstain.

"Shit, why did it have to come now of all times?"

She changed her underwear and pants before letting out a soft groan of pain. She felt like someone was stabbing her multiple times. Usually, her time of month gave her some sort of warning before it actually came, but not this time.

Walking out of the bathroom nearly half-bent over from the pain, she hobbled toward the kitchen.

"He has to have some sort of painkiller," she muttered to herself as she threw open the cabinets.

Nothing. He had absolutely nothing close to painkillers.

Another sharp, jabbing sensation went through Rukia and she loudly swore. She slowly and painfully made her way back to the bathroom. Before collapsing on the floor, she locked the door.

"Fuck," she said.

* * *

Ichigo came home to a quiet apartment. There was no sign of Rukia anywhere.

He poked his head in the kitchen then the living room. She wasn't in either room. Chappy was sitting in his cage, quiet; a strange sight because for the past two days Rukia always had him out.

"Rukia?" Ichigo called out.

"In the bathroom," called a faint voice. "Can you come here for a second?"

Ichigo headed to the bathroom, confused.

He knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"

Of course Rukia didn't want to say straight out that she had a surprise visitor called her period. It was embarrassing to even talk about with some of her close friends.

"Well, I…er, I got a visitor and I need you to go to the store," she said after a moment of silence.

"A surprise visitor? What are you talking about?" Ichigo leaned against the bathroom door to try and hear her quiet voice more clearly.

"Well…this visitor comes every month…" Rukia hoped Ichigo could catch onto her hint.

But, unfortunately, Ichigo was clueless as the next guy.

"So you invited them into my apartment?"

"I didn't exactly invite them…they just sort of show up."

"Okay, Rukia, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Rukia sighed in frustration. "I'm a girl."

"I knew that."

"And every girl gets a surprise visit every month."

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. What the hell was she talking about? "I don't get where you're going."

"I'M ON MY FREAKING PERIOD!" Rukia immediately covered her mouth after she blurted out the obvious. "I mean…I…er, I need pads from the store. Like now. Please." She added in the please last second hoping top sound less bitchy.

"Um…" Ichigo's face turned bright pink. "You want me to get them?"

"Yes. And preferably soon unless you want me to bleed everywhere."

"Ahh!" Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't need that image in my head!"

"Can you please hurry?" There was a sense of urgency in Rukia's voice.

"Alright!" Ichigo shoved his shoes back on and headed out to the nearest store.

His face was already tinted pink before he even set a foot inside the small convenience store. He kept his head bent down as he scanned the aisles for Rukia's…_products. _

Once he found them, a new dilemma was created. There were so many different types of the damned product. Rukia just said pads, not a specific kind.

He grabbed one and looked it over. It read, _Designed to control heavy flows. _

He quickly dropped that one, a disgusted look on his face. He did not want to know if Rukia had a heavy flow or not.

He ran a hair through his hair and let out an aggravated groan. How the fuck was he supposed to know what type of pads she needed?

"Dear, are you having trouble?"

Ichigo nearly jumped out of his shoes. He whipped around to find an older woman standing beside him with an amused expression.

"Er, yes?" he said.

"You must be picking up pads for your girlfriend…at least I hope so," the woman said.

"Uh, yeah, my girlfriend," he echoed.

"And you have no clue what type?"

Ichigo nodded.

The woman waved him away with her hand. "You men are all the same. Now let us see." She looked over the different colorful packages of pads. "Is she built small or bigger?"

"Small."

The woman gazed at the packages for what felt like forever before picking out a package and handing it to Ichigo. "There we go."

"Thanks," Ichigo said as his face grew pinker by the minute.

"Don't worry about it. All women have it so you might as well get used to it. You know…" The woman began to ramble on about her experience with a woman's monthly cycle.

Ichigo was positive his face would forever stay stained pink. He made up an excuse to leave and quickly escaped before the woman could tell him even more things he didn't want to know.

His face stayed pink as he went to checkout. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the candy aisle. He had no clue what Rukia would be like on her period. He heard women could get crabby and demanded food all the time.

He paused before grabbing random boxes of candy. He would get her all this just in case; he had to be prepared.

When he went to checkout, his arms were full of sweets. He dumped all the candy on the counter, the pads lost somewhere in the mix.

The middle-aged woman working the register gave him a sympethtic look when she saw the pads. "That time of month for your girlfriend?" she asked as she rang up the items.

He just nodded. He had hoped to avoid awkward conversations when he came to the store to pick up Rukia's products.

Ichigo paid for the items and gathered the bags. He was quick to get home.

He left her bags outside the bathroom door before retreating to the kitchen. He leaned against the counter, ready to bolt if Rukia magically turned into the monster that he had heard girls turned into on their periods.

When Rukia entered the kitchen a few minutes later, he ducked behind the counter and gave her a wary look.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "By the way, you didn't have to get me all those sweets. But thanks." She walked past him and went to the fridge.

Ichigo stared at her, still hiding behind the counter. She looked normal. She acted normal.

"What?" she said when she noticed him looking at her. She was about to add something when she suddenly doubled over. "Fuck," she whispered.

Ichigo was up in an instant. "Are you okay?" He stood over her with a concerned expression.

"I forgot to ask you if you had any painkillers." She attempted to straighten up.

"I think I do." Ichigo rummaged through a drawer and produced a bottle of painkillers. He handed her the bottled and filled a glass of water for her.

"Thanks," she said after she swallowed the pills. It would take a while for the painkillers to kick in; until then she had to deal with the pain.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, it's just cramps. I'll be fine." Rukia slowly made her way out of the kitchen and back to her room.

Pushing the huge pile of boxes of candy to the side she gingerly sat down. Her cramps were horrible during the first two days. She always kept strong painkillers around the house during this time so she could actually function.

Looking down at the candy, she bit her lip. A year ago she decided to give up junk food.

"A little wouldn't hurt."

An hour later, Ichigo came into Rukia's room to check up on her. He found her surrounded by empty candy boxes on the bed.

"Hi Ichigo!" she said and flew up from her bed to hug him.

Ichigo warily eyed the small girl wrapped around him.

"Thanks so much for the candy! I ate most of it because it was sooo good. I forgot how amazing candy tasted!" She was began to ramble. She was definitely hyper.

Ichigo tried to escape her arms, but for a small person, she was strong. He couldn't get out of her death-like grasp.

"One time Byakuya gave me candy and I was got really hyper and started running all over the place like a wild child. He never gave me any candy after that." Rukia was speaking so fast it was hard for Ichigo to understand her.

When Rukia finally let go of him, Ichigo took a step back. He put his hands on her shoulders to keep her still.

"I am never giving you candy again," he said.

"Aw," she pouted. "You're just like Byakuya."

"Maybe you should go play with Chappy or something. You need to burn off this extra energy because I don't want to deal with a hyper Rukia all night."

Rukia nodded at his suggestion and bolted out of the room calling Chappy's name.

"Poor rabbit," Ichigo said as he followed her.

An hour later, Rukia had worked off all her energy. She lay lounged on the end of the couch, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Ichigo was at the other end of the couch with his laptop. He closed his laptop and looked over at a sleepy Rukia.

Setting his laptop down, he nudged Rukia with his foot. "Oi."

Rukia let out a squeak and buried her face in one of the pillows. She had her arms around another pillow.

"Come on," Ichigo said and nudged her again.

This time she kicked him. "No," she said and nuzzled into the pillows. She didn't want to move at all.

Although the painkillers had gotten rid of most of her pain, she still felt like crap after the sugar high wore down. She was extremely tired and didn't feel like moving a muscle.

"I'm not going to let you sleep on the couch." Ichigo got up and poked her cheek.

"I don't want to get up." She swatted his hand away.

Ichigo shrugged. "You asked for it." He lifted her up from the couch.

Rukia let out as squeak and clung onto him. "Hey!"

"You wouldn't get up." Ichigo carried her to her room and set her down on the bed. "Night."

"Night," Rukia said. She stared at him as he exited her room.

Her stomach felt…tingly. Not a bad type of tingly, but, rather, a good kind. The butterfly kind.

She shook her head of such thoughts. It had to be the cramps, she reasoned with herself. Nothing more.

Ichigo stared at his ringing phone. He considered not answering it for a moment. It was too late for his old man to be calling.

Rubbing a face over his face, he answered. "Hello?"

_"__Hello Ichigo, my boy!" _Of course it was Isshin calling at this hour.

"Do you realize what time it is?"

_"__Indeed I do! But I had to call you as soon as possible!"_

"What do you want, old man?"

_"__Some of my plans got switched around so you can bring you little girlfriend over this weekend!"_

Ichigo sighed. "Dad, you could have told me this sooner. I scheduled a surgery on this prissy guy's dog this weekend."

_"__Well rearrange it! You are bringing over your girlfriend this weekend or else!"_

"Or else what?"

_"__I will not hesitate to send Urahara on you!" _

"I'm not scared of that oaf."

_"__I'll cry if you don't!"_

Ichigo let out an aggravated groan. "So?"

_"Karin and Yuzu will cry if you don't! I already told them!"_

"Fine, fine. I will. Goddamn you, old man."

_"__Good, I'll prepare everything for this weekend. By the way, you and Rukia will be sharing a room. No making babies just yet, though!"_

* * *

The days were counting down. Byakuya looked over his calendar in his office. Five more days. He had five more days to pay off a debt that wasn't his. He had five more days to build up a case that, at the moment, was going nowhere. He had five more days before 'they' allegedly go after his sister.

Five. More. Days.

Byakuya was on edge. A part of him wanted to pay off the debt and get it over with, but he knew he couldn't. He had to do the right thing.

He hoped Rukia was safe and well. He hadn't heard anything from her since she left. He was slightly disappointed she didn't try to contact him; he was also worried that she was in danger and that's the reason she wasn't contacting him.

He could only hope and pray.

He turned away from the calendar. Today another person had been interviewed and once again they seemed to know nothing. Ulquiorra Cifer proved to be another dead end.

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. **

**So, I noticed 30 or so of you are following The Dating Game, but I only have one or two people review after each chapter.**

**It's be amazing if some of you started leaving reviews! I genuinely want to know all of your guys' opinions on the chapter. I want to know what you liked, what you loved, what needs work, what didn't work, ect! It'll help me develop even more as a writer. **

**Thank you all so much! You guys mean a lot to me.**

**I love you, my darlings!~**


	7. Dirty Glares and Awkwardness

Rukia was slightly alarmed when Ichigo told her that they were visiting his family that weekend. She thought she had more time to prepare herself to 'meet' his family.

She knew Ichigo hadn't told his father that she was his 'girlfriend.' She also knew that the Kurosaki family still remembered her from long ago.

That fact terrified her. How would they react when they saw that the girlfriend Ichigo brought home was her? While Isshin and Yuzu had been oblivious to the fact that Rukia and Ichigo had become enemies during high school, Karin had picked up on it.

Karin was the reason Rukia was terrified to visit. When she first took Ichigo up on this deal, she hadn't given his family a second thought- or any thought at all.

"So we're going to have to act how couples do when we're around them?" Rukia had asked Ichigo when he told her.

"Of course," Ichigo said.

Rukia had nodded at the information she already knew. She shrugged. She could do that; she had been in theatre, she knew what to do.

The day before they left town to visit Ichigo's family, Rukia sat on her bed with a pen and paper. She was creating the character that was madly in love with Ichigo. It would make it easier for her to act like she was Ichigo's girlfriend if she had a character she could slip into for the stay.

Tapping the pen on the paper, she chewed her bottom lip as she thought the character over. Obviously the character had to be similar to her, but not too similar so it looked like she had changed over the years to the Kurosaki family.

She knew she had to fool Karin more than the rest of the family. Karin had witnessed one of the fights she had with Ichigo.

"_Ichigo I have to talk to you after class," Rukia whispered to Ichigo when their teacher wasn't looking._

_Ichigo gave her a confused look, but shrugged and nodded._

_After class was over and school dismissed, Rukia dragged Ichigo behind the school. _

"_What is it, Rukia?" Ichigo said. "You look worried."_

"_I am," Rukia said and tapped her foot. She didn't know how to tell Ichigo._

"_Spit it out, then. You look like you're about to bolt away." _

"_You're not going to like what I'm about to say, but someone had to tell you…Ichigo, Orihime is cheating on you."_

_Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"_

"_I heard from-"_

"_She wouldn't cheat on me," Ichigo interrupted her._

"_But I heard from-"_

"_She. Wouldn't. Cheat. On. Me. Period."_

"_As I was trying to say, I heard from-"_

"_Whoever you heard it from is talking shit."_

"_They are not. They are a very reliable source." Rukia put her hands on her hips and glared up at him._

"_Hm, they are? Then who did they see Orihime with?" _

"_They said…er…" _

"_Exactly. You have no clue because they don't know. They're just spouting shit."_

"_I know what they're saying is true."_

"_Why do you care so much?" Ichigo looked down at Rukia suspiciously. "You've been on my tail ever since I started dating Orihime."_

"_Well, you know what? I don't care who you date!" Rukia huffed and glared at the orange-haired idiot standing in front of her._

"_By the looks of it, you do," Ichigo said and grinned when Rukia stomped her foot._

"_Shut up! Don't come crying to me when she breaks your stupid heart!"_

"_I won't because she won't."_

"_She will! Have you not heard the rumors? She's cheating on you, Ichigo, and I know it!"_

"_Kindly stay out of my business, Kuchiki. It's exactly what you said: rumors." _

_Rukia was slightly shocked that he called her by her last name. He had never done that before. "As I said earlier, I don't care who you date! But when she breaks your heart, don't come crying to me, Kurosaki!" Rukia stormed off, her blood boiling. She was only trying to help him, but that idiot refused! _

_Rukia had heard the rumors that Orihime was cheating on Ichigo and she automatically believed them. Had she been in her right mind and not looking for an excuse to get Ichigo to leave Orihime, she would have realized the rumors were not true. Orihime was a sweet girl and doing something like cheating was nothing like her._

_Rukia knew that, but she acted like she didn't. _

_As Rukia rounded the corner, she bumped into someone._

_But it wasn't just anyone. It was Karin. _

_Rukia's face paled. She hoped Karin hadn't heard the fight she had with Ichigo a moment ago. _

"_Excuse me, but I have to go get my brother since you held him back," Karin said and shouldered past Rukia. She paused and turned around. "I know how you feel about my brother, but don't go around and try to break up him and Orihime."_

_Rukia blinked. "I wasn't-"_

_Karin scoffed. "Shove down any feelings you have for him because it's not going to happen." And then she was gone. _

Rukia was extremely nervous. Sitting back in her seat, she tried to relax.

She and Ichigo had left an hour ago to go up to his father's for the weekend.

Her heart was pounding and her palms felt clammy.

_Why did I agree to this? _If only she had actually given it thought. She had to be lovey-dovey with Ichigo every minute they spent in the house. It wouldn't be hard to convince Isshin and Yuzu; Karin was the challenge.

Ichigo looked over at a fidgety Rukia. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Rukia said and looked out the window.

She wished she had Chappy, but they left him behind. Grimmjow had promised to check up on the bunny once while they were gone. But he said he would only do so if Rukia baked for him.

Rukia had rolled her eyes at his request.

As they got closer and closer to the town where his family lived, Rukia wished more and more she hadn't taken Ichigo up on his deal.

_Stop it, Rukia. _She scolded herself. _You got yourself into this and you can't back out. Besides, after this you're home free. _

Rukia tried relaxing. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back on the seat.

An hour later, Rukia woke up to Ichigo shaking her.

"We're here," he said.

Rukia blinked a few times and sat up. A yawn escaped her lips as she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to fully wake up.

Ichigo's eyes went from Rukia to the house then back to Rukia. "So…I may have not told them that my "girlfriend" was you."

Rukia shrugged. "Then I guess they're in for a surprise."

Ichigo's eyes slightly widened at her casualness, but he dismissed. He gathered their bags from the car before leading the way in.

Rukia wasn't as nervous as she was before. She felt relatively calm as she followed Ichigo into his father's house.

"Dad, we're here," Ichigo called out as he opened the unlocked front door.

At the door entrance, there stood Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin. All three of their mouths dropped when they saw Rukia behind Ichigo.

Karin donned an angry expression and quickly scampered down the hallway without a word. Yuzu was about to go after her, but Isshin stopped her.

"Son, this is a surprise," Isshin said as Rukia tensed up. "I knew you two would get together!" Isshin leapt forward to pull Rukia into a bone-crushing hug.

Rukia stiffened in Isshin's hold, not sure what to do.

Ichigo saw Rukia's discomfort and pulled Isshin off her. 'Get off her, old man. You're going to scare her off."

Isshin frowned at his son before suddenly kicking Ichgio's legs out from under him. Ichigo collapsed on the ground with a grunt.

"What the hell?" Ichigo sprang back on his feet and glared at his father.

"You've gotten soft, son." Isshin tsked at Ichigo and waved a finger in his face.

Rukia watched the pair with an amused expression.

Isshin turned away from Ichigo and fixed his attention on Rukia. "I haven't seen you in quite some time, Rukia! Not since you and Byakuya moved away. How have you been?"

Rukia smiled at Isshin. "I have been doing pretty well."

Isshin let out a giggle. "And now you're dating my son! I knew you two would end up together." He tapped his head. "I'm pretty sure I'm psychic or something."

Ichigo scowled at his father. "Oh, shut up, old man!"

"Is that any way to talk to your father?" Isshin kicked Ichigo again, but this time Ichigo blocked it.

"Whatever. I'm going to put our bags in the room. Don't traumatize Rukia while I'm gone." Ichigo picked up the bags he had dropped when Isshin first kicked him and disappeared up the stairs.

"Come in, come in." Isshin ushered- more like herded- Rukia into the living room and sat her down on the couch. "I'll be right back. I have to check up on Yuzu. She's making us dinner!" Isshin went into the kitchen, leaving Rukia alone. Or so she thought.

"You and Ichigo, huh?" Rukia turned her head to see Karin leaning on the wall.

"Hello, Karin," Rukia politely said.

"After all these years, you couldn't get over him, could you?" Karin pushed off the wall to stand in front of Rukia.

"It's not like that."

Karin looked Rukia up and down with a scowl. "Listen, I know you had something to do with breaking Ichigo and Orihime up in high school."

"I didn't!" Rukia stood up to face Karin.

"I know you did. And now you're magically his girlfriend. What'd you do to convince him?"

"Nothing at all." Rukia was getting red in the face.

Karin looked Rukia over once more. She was about to say something when Ichigo came back down the stairs.

"Come on, Rukia," he said and grabbed Rukia's hand. He threw Karin a warning look over his shoulder as he towed Rukia behind him.

Rukia silently followed him, wondering if he heard anything. He had to put something together from the way tense way she and Karin were talking in each other's faces. She felt guilty about already almost starting a fight with Karin, but she wasn't about to back down; she was a Kuchiki after all, even if her temper was shorter than her brother's.

Ichigo had pulled her into his old room. Rukia looked around, confused.

"Where will I be staying?" she asked.

Ichigo rubbed his neck. "I didn't tell you about that, did I? We're sharing a room."

"Oh." If Rukia felt awkward about sharing a room with him, she didn't show it.

"What was going on between you and Karin?" Ichigo sat on the bed.

"Nothing at all." Rukia turned away from Ichigo and began to rummage through her bag.

"It didn't look like nothing." Ichigo was beating around the bush. He had, indeed, heard the conversation that went on between Karin and Rukia. He was slightly surprised because Karin wasn't usually that aggressive.

"Don't worry about it."

Ichigo stared at Rukia's back. She had become closed off and cold to him now. Was she upset that Karin had accused her of trying to break up Ichigo and Orihime a few years ago?

Ichigo knew she wasn't the reason that Orihime broke up with him.

_Orihime stared up at Ichigo with a sad expression._

"_What's wrong?" he asked and slung an arm around her shoulders._

_Orihime gently took his arm off her. "Ichigo, I think we need to talk." Her voice was soft._

"_About what?"_

_Orihime let out a sad sigh. "Ichigo you're a really great guy…any girl would be lucky to have you. And I've had a good time while we dated, but I think we need to break things off."_

_Ichigo sat up straight in his seat. "Break things off?"_

_Orihime gave him a sad look. "Yes. I met another guy and I think there's another girl that you'd be good with."_

"_Another guy?"_

"_Yes. Please don't make this harder than it has to be. Besides, there's another girl that perfect for you. You need to open your eyes and realize she's right under your nose." Orihime bowed her head before standing up. "I'm sorry, Ichigo." _

Ichigo had no clue what girl Orihime had been talking about…at least, until now. When he heard Karin say that to Rukia that she hadn't gotten over him, he finally put the pieces together.

He was so stupid to not realize at the time. Rukia liked him all those years ago.

Ichigo was broken out of his thoughts when Rukia clapped her hands in front of him.

"Earth to Ichigo," she said.

Ichigo shook his head. "What?"

"Yuzu called us down for dinner. Let's go." She walked out of the room, not waiting for him.

Ichigo hurried after her.

"Ah, Ichigo and Rukia!" Yuzu said when the pair made their way into the kitchen. "Please sit! I'll serve you dinner."

Karin and Isshin were already at the table. Rukia licked her lips as she sat down next to Isshin and Ichigo. She was seated directly across from Karin.

Karin paid no attention to her as her eyes narrowed on the arm Ichigo slung around the back of Rukia's chair.

Throughout dinner, Karin sent Rukia dirty looks while Isshin cracked multiple jokes that Rukia only laughed at out of pity.

Ichigo sensed Rukia's discomfort and rested his hand on her thigh, not realizing it only made her feel even more uncomfortable.

She didn't shake it off, though, because she thought he did it to make them more like a couple. Couples always seemed to have to touch each other in public.

After dinner, Isshin suggested they watch a movie together. Rukia would have rather not and wished she could just spend the rest of the night upstairs to escape Karin's unwavering glare, but she simply nodded her head.

She wished Karin would stop drilling holes in her head with her cold eyes. She understood very clearly that Karin still had not forgiven her for the fight she had gotten into with Ichigo. Although she understood, she wished Karin would put it past her.

When they gathered in the living room to watch the movie Isshin picked out, Karin sat as far away from the 'couple' as she possibly could. Ichigo sat next to Rukia and casually slung his arm around her shoulders.

Karin rolled her eyes when she saw Ichigo had his arm around Rukia. Ichigo noticed Karin's behavior and it only fueled his suspicions that there was something more going on between Rukia and Karin other than the tense conversation he overheard between them earlier.

If Isshin noticed the obvious tension between Rukia and Karin, he didn't let on. He turned on the movie before turning off the lights. Right before he turned the lights off, though, he sent Ichigo a wink.

Ichigo ignored Isshin's wink and fixed his attention on the t.v. Isshin had picked a scary movie for a very obvious reason.

Rukia didn't hate scary movies, but she didn't particularly like them. They were too gory and disturbing for her. However, she watched the scary movie in silence, looking up at Ichigo every once in a while.

While Ichigo kept his attention on the movie, she looked up at him again. Her eyes went up to his face to study it. He was extremely handsome, she couldn't deny that fact.

_What am I thinking? _She thought. _I got over him years ago, didn't I? _But she kept her eyes locked on him. No one noticed her obvious staring for they were all engaged in the movie.

Yuzu was huddling next to Karin, squealing in fright every once in a while. Isshin had left the room long ago despite the fact he was the one who picked out the movie. Ichigo didn't seem to be scared by the movie, but every time there was a jump scare his arm tightened around Rukia's shoulders.

Once the movie was over, everyone scattered. Karin and Yuzu went to their room while Ichigo and Rukia went to Ichigo's.

After the two got ready for bed, Ichigo started to set up a makeshift bed on the floor. Rukia watched his actions, confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Sleeping on the floor," he replied.

"You don't have to," She added, "I don't mind sharing a bed."

Ichigo's head snapped up to look at her. "Huh?"

Rukia chuckled. "We're matured a lot since we last saw each other, Ichigo. Two grown adults can share a bed without anything going on."

Ichigo's eyebrows raised a faction. He was surprised at her bluntness. "If you insistent." He threw the blankets he was using for his makeshift bed back on the bed and climbed in. "Just know that I hog the duvet most of the time."

Rukia shrugged as she crawled under the covers. The bed was small and there was only an inch or so of space between them. Rukia scooted over as far as she could to put a little more distance between them. Pulling part of the duvet over herself, she turned her back to Ichigo.

Ichigo pulled on the duvet over him. Rukia frowned and rolled onto her other side to face him. "Hey," she protested and pulled some of the duvet back.

"I told you I hog the blanket," Ichigo said and tugged back.

Rukia reached over and elbowed him before tugging half of the duvet back. "If I were you, I'd change that habit."

Ichigo let out a grunt. He scowled at her, but she turned her back to him once more with a firm grip on the blanket. He sighed and made do with the other half of the duvet. He quickly fell asleep.

Rukia wasn't fortunate enough to fall asleep as quickly as Ichigo did. She lay awake for a long time thinking about anything and everything.

Wasn't funny how when you wanted to sleep, your thoughts seemed to become even louder than during the day?

Rukia squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to fall asleep. Her eyes flew open almost immediately when she felt a hand resting on her stomach.

Turning only her head, she saw Ichigo had gotten closer to her in his sleep and had slung an arm over her side, his hand resting on her stomach. She turned her head back and let out a sigh. She left his arm alone, not pushing it off of her. She felt weird, but _enjoyed _feeling his arm slung around her. She closed her eyes and let out another sigh.

_What am I going to do? _

* * *

Gin looked at his phone and shook his head. No call or message from Byakuya. Oh, foolish, foolish Byakuya. He put it in his pocket and looked over atNnoitra. "Ya have free reign to do as you please. Just remember, we need the girl alive."

Nnoitra gave him a wicked grin. "Anything I please except hurt the girl?"

"Precisely."

The two stepped out the car parked in front of an apartment complex. They both wrapped their black jackets around themselves. They quickly entered the complex.

The lobby was empty. Even the person who managed the front desk in the lobby was gone.

"Perfect," Nnoitra commented to Gin as they entered the elevator. "No witnesses."

"We still have to be careful," Gin said. They waited in silence as the elevator took them up to the top floor.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Nnoitra was out and to the apartment number scrawled on a piece of paper. It took him less than a few seconds to pick the lock and let them in.

All the lights were off and Gin turned them on. He tsked. "Hm, it seems they aren't home. What a shame."

Nnoitra poked around the apartment. "Should we wait for them to get back?"

Gin also had a look around the apartment. He found a note left on the fridge.

**Grimmjow, **

**Thanks for taking care of Chappy while we're gone! His food is right next to his cage, which is in the living room. He should be fine if you leave enough food in his bowl and water in his bottle for the rest of the time we're gone!**

**Thanks again!**

**-Rukia**

"It seems that the two lovebirds went for a short vacation," Gin said and held the note up to Nnoitra.

"How long?" Nnoitra took the note from Gin and looked it over.

"Doesn't say."

Nnoitra grunted in frustration. "Well there goes our plan."

Gin smiled up at the other man. "We can still leave a message that we were here."

Nnoitra grinned back. "We could…"

And so began the destruction. Nnoitra went through everything, throwing it across the room.

He dug through Rukia's clothing and belongings and messed up Ichigo's room.

Gin watched it with an amused expression. Perhaps Rukia would contact Byakuya after this. Then Byakuya would get the message they weren't messing around.

Gin took his phone out and dialed a number he now knew by heart.

"_Hello?" _

"Ah, Byakuya, you finally answered."

"_What do you want?" _Although Byakuya put up a cold façade, Gin knew could sense the fear in his voice.

"Oh, I was just visiting little Rukia. Did ya know she moved in with that orange-haired veterinarian, Ichigo?"

"_Leave her alone. This matter is between us and us only." _

"The good news for ya, dear Byakuya, is the she's not here. The little lovebirds went off somewhere. The bad news is, in fact, she is involved in this matter."

"I demand you leave her be. She has absolutely nothing to do with what went down between us."

"But she does. Without her, we can't get ya to pay off Aizen's debt. With her, we can. Ya see?"

"Once again, I demand you stop this at once. Leave her be."

"Lucky for you, she isn't here so she's fine for now." Gin hung up just as Byakuya was about to counter.

Gin motioned for Nnoitra to stop. "Come along. We should get going. You've done enough damage for now."

Nnoitra was about to follow Gin when they heard the door open and a voice.

"Still can't believe I agreed to look after that stupid bunny." It was Grimmjow.

Nnoitra gave Gin a look. Gin slightly tilted his head, smiling.

Grimmjow stumbled upon the two in the living room. "What the fuck-" he was cut off by Nnoitra's fist.

Grimmjow stumbled back before catching himself and launching at Nnoitra. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He pushed Nnoitra back and began to throw punches at him.

"None of your business, filthy cat," Nnoitra said without missing a beat as he evaded Grimmjow's fists.

Grimmjow chuckled. "Fine. You know, I've been looking for a good fight." His fist collided with Nnoitra's face.

Nnoitra wasn't fazed. He kept dodging the blows Grimmjow sent his way. The two circled around each other with Gin watching.

"Good. Because your ass is about to get whooped." Nnoitra launched at Grimmjow and pinned him on the ground. His fists were blurs. Grimmjow took blow after blow. His own fists were flying at Nnoitra's face.

Grimmjow used his feet to knock Nnoitra off him. He switched positions with Nnoitra, who was now under him. He kept Nnoitra pinned as he beat his face into a bloody pulp.

Nnoitra grabbed Grimmjow's fists. He knocked him off and staggered to his feet. Grimmjow scrambled to get up.

The two were once again circling around. Neither of them paid attention to Gin. They were focused on each other.

So when Grimmjow suddenly collapsed on the ground, both of them were surprised.

Gin stood above Grimmjow's body with a frying pan. "Who knew these things could be so useful?"

Nnoitra kicked the unconscious Grimmjow. "What should we do with him?"

"Leave him. Boss man wouldn't be too happy if we killed him." Gin threw the frying pan on the ground.

"Fine." Nnoitra kicked Grimmjow one last time.

The two walked out of the apartment complex, through the still empty lobby. Gin stopped once they were outside and looked up at the top floor.

_You got lucky this time, Rukia._

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this early update!**

**Thank you soooo much to everyone that favorited, followed, and reviewed! Seriously, thanks so much for reviewing. I love going through them. They make my day. :)**

**Please review or favorite or follow or all three!**

**I love you, my darlings!**

**P.S Ooooh what's going on with Rukia and her feelings? And what the fuck is happening with Byakuya? Stay tuned to find out! **

**P.S.S Question of the week: (yes, I'm doing this now) What bands do you guys listen to? Personally, I listen to Sleeping With Sirens, Falling In Reverse, Pierce the Veil, and many more bands like that. **


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